Eternal Irving Berlin *UPDATED*

I caught Taco on satellite radio, performing his own weird version of Irving Berlin’s Puttin’ on the Ritz. I thought I’d do a little collection of videos showing that song playing out over the decades.

Here’s Harry Richman, for whom Berlin wrote the song, performing it in 1930, in one of the earliest musical films. It’s primitive, but still fun to watch, if for no other reason than as a blast back into time. (I love the plump chorines.)

Although Berlin wrote the song for Richman, in 1930 Fred Astaire also recorded it, with his staccato presentation putting a lasting imprint on the song:

In 1937, Clark Gable, in his delightful turn as a two bit vaudeville player, turned in a wonderfully camp and charming version of the same song. Indeed, this is my favorite version of the song:

By 1946, Fred Astaire once again was “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” this time on film, as opposed to just a sound recording:

In the mid-1970s, Michael Jackson — Michael Jackson! — along with his brothers tackled the song (at about 1:00 minute in):

Recently, even people with no discernible talent have recorded this classic. Here’s Rufus Wainwright, who appears incapable of carrying a tune. I recommend no more than 10 seconds of this one. I include it just to show how eternal Irving Berlin is:

UPDATE: Rockdalian reminded me of yet another “classic” version, this from Young Frankenstein: